Underground cables and pre-paid system in 13 towns by year end
Power Deartment hopeful of brighter days
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, October 14, 2013: With due initiatives already taken up for laying under ground power cables and introduce pre-paid system in 13 towns of the valley districts including Imphal, the Power Department is hopeful that the pathetic power situation would see certain improvement by the end of next year.

Speaking to media persons at his office today, Power Department Chief Engineer N Sarat claimed that different measures taken up by the department for improvement of power situation in the State have struck a right chord.

In areas like Paona Keithel, Thangal Keithel and some other parts of the capital city where underground power cables have been laid, people have started using electricity judiciously and as a result, the demand for power has come down.

Corresponding to the level of tax collection, electricity is now made available 24 hours a day in these areas where pre-paid system has been introduced.

Earlier, these areas consumed 12 MW but it has come down to 7 MW after introduction of under ground power cables and pre-paid system under the Restructure-Accelerated Power Development and Reform Programme (R-APDRP), claimed the Chief Engineer.

Power Deartment hopeful of brighter days

Acknowledging the success of R-APDRP at Imphal city, officials of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh have visited Imphal and observed its working for adaptation in their respective States, if found applicable.

Due process for laying under ground cables for introducting pre-paid system in 13 towns of the valley districts has been already initiated, informed N Sarat.

Imphal city, Thoubal, Lilong (Imphal West), Ningthoukhong, Samurou, Nambol, Moreh, Bishnupur, Kakching, Moirang, Laxmi Thongkhong, Lilong (Thoubal) and Mayang Imphal are the towns selected for introduction of pre-paid system.

One lakh manipulation-proof power meters equipped with communication ports have been procured and the process of replacing the old meters with the new ones has been already started.

The work of replacing old meters with new ones is likely to be completed by March next year.

The new meters would solve the problem of levying the same amount of tax on consumers regardless of the difference in the quantity of power consumed.

The exact quantity of power consumed by a consumer can be easily worked out from the communication ports fitted in the new meters by connecting them to a computer set.

Thus, consumers have to pay only the amount registered in the meter.

Moreover, in addition to the two transmission lines of 100 MW capacity which connect Yurembam Power House to the power grid, another transmission line of 50 MW capacity has been added.

As such, the State has now capacity of drawing 150 MW from outside the State.

This development has opened the scope of importing power from Paltana and Bongaigaon, the Chief Engineer stated.

Four power sub-stations of 132 KV capacity are being constructed at Tipaimukh, Thoubal, Tamenglong and Gamphazol at the cost of Rs 300 crore provided by the World Bank.

In addition, serious efforts are on to improve the transmission and distribution systems.

Renovation and modernisation of the older power sub-stations of Imphal, Yurembam, Ningthoukhong, Churachandpur, Kakching and Yaingangpokpi is currently under progress, Sarat informed.

Due process has also been initiated to obtain necessary fund for putting up transmission lines of 132 KV up to Moreh and Thanlon.

Moreover, a novel project of fitting SIM card in power transformer by which the volume of power consumed by the particular locality can be ascertained online is being implemented in Thoubal.

The department is hoping to reap the fruits of the ongoing multiple measures by the end of next year.

Power bills indebted to public and the Government amounted to Rs 351 crore last year.

Against this figure, the department was able to collect only Rs 88 crore.

Out of Rs 88 crore collected as power tax, Rs 22 crore came from Government departments.

Till August this year, power bills indebted to public and the Government reached Rs 380 crore.

Bills indebted to Government departments would be paid by the end of the current financial year, the Chief Engineer appealed to all consumers to clear their pending power bills.

He further informed that the Government has been spending Rs 18 crore every month in purchasing power.

Clarifying that the department does not charge any money for power connection given to BPL families under RGGVY, Sarat appealed to all the people to inform higher ranking officials of the department if any one was found charging money for power connection given to BPL families.

The State Government has a plan to provide 2/3 MW of power to Tamu town of Myanmar.

Due process is on to obtain the same volume of power from the central pool, added the Chief Engineer.